Prokofiev: Suites from The Gambler & The Tale of the Stone Flower

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[The Gambler Suite is] typical Prokofiev cut-and-paste, but there’s great lyric warmth in the way Dima Slobodeniouk and his Lahti players handle the opening these and the pathos of Babulenka,... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2020, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 1st May 2020
Catalogue No: BIS2301
Label: BIS
Length: 62 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Prokofiev: Four Portraits and Dénoument from ‘The Gambler’, Op. 49

Work length26:05

$5.00

$6.50

$8.75

Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Dima Slobodeniouk

I. Alexis

Track length5:12

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

II. La grand'mère

Track length6:27

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

III. The General

Track length3:01

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

IV. Pauline

Track length6:34

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

V. Dénouement

Track length4:51

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prokofiev: Autumnal sketch, Op. 8

Work length6:44

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Dima Slobodeniouk

Prokofiev: The Mistress of the Copper Mountain, Op. 129

Work length4:14

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Dima Slobodeniouk

Prokofiev: The Stone Flower Suite No. 1, Op. 126 ‘Wedding Suite’

Work length11:49

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Dima Slobodeniouk

I. Amorous Dance

Track length6:21

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

II. Dance of the Fiancée's Girlfriends

Track length2:00

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

III. Maidens' Dance

Track length3:28

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prokofiev: Gypsy Fantasy, Op. 127

Work length8:10

$5.00

$6.50

$8.75

Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Dima Slobodeniouk

I. Introduction

Track length0:35

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

II. Gypsy Dance

Track length2:17

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

III. Severian's Dance

Track length1:38

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

IV. Dance of the Gypsy Girl

Track length2:01

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

V. Mass Dance

Track length1:39

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Prokofiev: The Stone Flower Suite No. 1, Op. 126 ‘Wedding Suite’

Work length5:30

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

IV. Ceremonial Dance

Track length2:01

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

V. Wedding Dance

Track length3:29

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

About
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About

Throughout his career, Sergei Prokofiev wrote a large number of works for the stage – some of them highly successful, others less so. Whichever the case, Prokofiev would rarely miss the opportunity of recycling the score in one way or another – staying more or less close to the original in an orchestral suite or using it as material for a completely new work, such as the Third and Fourth symphonies (based on the ballet The Prodigal Son and the opera The Fiery Angel, respectively.) The present release combines suites created from Prokofiev’s very first opera (The Gambler, 1915–17) and his very last ballet (The Stone Flower, 1948–53). Based on a short novel by Dostoyevsky, The Gambler doesn’t have separate numbers that can easily be detached. Instead Prokofiev created ‘portraits’ of the four main characters, by re-assembling the music associated with them throughout the opera. The plot of The Tale of the Stone Flower was based on a collection of folk and fairy tales from mining communities of the Ural Mountains, and Prokofiev composed a 150-minute score in an idiom relying on folk elements and nineteenth-century musical traditions. While waiting for official permission to have the ballet performed, he planned a number of orchestral suites. On this recording, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and their principal conductor Dima Slobodeniouk splice together two of these compilations: the Wedding Suite, Op.126 and the Gypsy Fantasy, Op.127, both of which were performed before the ballet itself, in 1951. The result is preceded by the opening of the actual ballet, entitled The Mistress of the Copper Mountain. These suites frame the brief Autumnal Sketch, one of the composer’s earliest acknowledged works for orchestra.

Reviews

July 2020

[The Gambler Suite is] typical Prokofiev cut-and-paste, but there’s great lyric warmth in the way Dima Slobodeniouk and his Lahti players handle the opening these and the pathos of Babulenka, the capricious old lady who loses everything at the gambling table…a little more thrust wouldn’t have gone amiss, but textures remain clear and phrases always shapely…Demonstration-quality sound is a good companion throughout.

Nov/Dec 2020

The performances from the Lahti Symphony are everything one would want under the hand of conductor Dima Slobodeniouk. BIS’s producers and sound engineers know this orchestra and hall very well and know how to capture a nicely realistic sonic picture. If you are looking to acquaint yourself with some of the less popular Prokofiev ballet music, this would be a particularly good choice.

August 2020

[Slobodeniouk] has a distinctive way with the composer, prizing lucidity over clamour. In the ‘Four Portraits and a Dénouement’ from The Gambler, his refined approach is refreshing.

August 2020

It’s beautifully performed here by Dima Slobodeniouk’s Lahti forces. They’re also impressive in the Four Portraits and Dénouement

Prokofiev: Suites from The Gambler & The Tale of the Stone Flower

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